Three experiments explored the role of a person's actions on how empathetic the person is perceived to be from the perspective of an unspecified observer (Study 1) and from the empathizer's and the target's perspectives (Studies 2 and 3). In each experiment, undergraduates read different versions of a story about a boss who fires an employee and afterwards rated the boss' empathy. The results of the three experiments suggested that action is crucial in the experience of empathy from both empathizer's and target's perspectives (Studies 2 and 3), as well as from the perspective of an unspecified observer (Study 1). It is concluded that the convergence between the empathizer and the target on the importance of action in empathy can be understood in terms of empathy being an interpersonal phenomenon.